A time capsule of the greatest financial mania in the history of mankind, told in real-time by regular folks and patriots. May future generations better understand the madness of crowds, and how power and money corrupt.

September 03, 2006

We all know most realtors are the losers of society, who couldn't cut it in a real profession. We all know the system is broken, this 6% thing, that actually incents the agent to work against the interests of the client. And we all know now that on Bring Your Parent to School day, bringing your mom the agent will soon be below the kid who brought his mom the crack whore.

REALTORS® shall cooperate with other brokers except when cooperation is not in the client’s best interest.

REALTORS® shall not misrepresent the availability of access to show or inspect a listed property.

From the NY Times expose "The Last Stand of the 6-Percenters" (read the whole article too - it's good)

WHEN David and Annette Wolf decided that their family was outgrowing its Seattle area home, they also decided that they did not need much help finding a new one. They combed Internet listings of homes for sale until they spotted a four-bedroom house on a cul-de-sac with a three-car garage and 2.5 acres.

But the seller’s agent refused to show it to them.

Why would she turn away an eager buyer? Not because of the Wolfs’ race, creed or color. Instead, Mr. Wolf, a software engineering manager at the online directory InfoSpace, said he and his wife were shunned once the agent learned they used an online broker called Redfin.

Mr. Wolf said they turned to Redfin because it gives two-thirds of its sales commission (which is usually 3 percent of the sale price) to its customers.

“I didn’t want to pay 3 percent for the opening of a door,” he said. But customers like Mr. Wolf — affluent and comfortable with the Internet — are a frightening prospect for real estate agents who, as a group, reap at least $60 billion a year in commission income.

As it turned out, the Wolfs’ offer was the highest of five bids made for the house they wanted, and they were able to buy it despite the balky broker.

“I’d like to have been the fly on the wall for the conversation between that seller and his agent,” said Joseph J. Fox, chief executive of BuySide and a founder of one of the earliest online stock brokerage firms, WebStreet. “The amazing thing,” he added, “is that the selling agent still got paid and made $15,000 to $20,000.”

36 comments:

Anonymous
said...

When my RE Agent goes to school functions with her child, PTA etc. She does NOT tell any of the other parents what she does for a living. She is to embarassed.She also took a 2% listing, 1% to her-1% to buyer broker, whilst advising her sellers to SELL SHORT.Adapt like the BORG or die.

I was transferred to Seattle last summer during the height of the "mania".

We showed up at the "first showing" of a property and by the time we got there (an hour later) it was already sold having been bid up to $50K above asking price. It was crazy.

But the kicker was the RE agent. This sleazy young guy who explained that Seattle was "hot" and prices were going straight up. We told hm our price range and he told us that "unfortunately even with your income bracket (double Seattle's average salary) you won't be able to afford a single family home in this area".

Which meant that if we were going to stick to the conservative formula (20% down, 30 year fixed, and a .30 mortgage/wage ratio) that we were gonna have to live in the "multi cultural" part of town. You can guess what that means.

Then he told us quietly that agents no longer list properties as they come on the market and that each agent has his own list of "unlisted hot properties" and he asked us if we would like to see some.

It was like the proverbial guy on the corner in a raincoat saying "psssst, hey buddy, want some toot?"

At that point I realized that something had happened and suddenly the world was "upside down" with respect to RE.

I had been blissfully unaware of "the bubble" in Texas. We were crushed. In Texas we lived like kings but in Seattle all we could afford was a POS in a "multi cultural" neighborhood.

There had been no news of the bubble ANYWHERE and until I started sniffing around on the internet and found the bubble blogs, not one RE agent said anything except "buy now or be priced out forever" or "there not making any more land in Seattle".

There is no reason for RE agents to even exist. With the internet there is no reason why sellers can't post their sale online. And once a buyer is found, fill in the online offer form, initiate a request for a Title Search and request a loan. This is a repetitive process with the same exact steps repeated over and over....perfect for digitizing.

Let's get rid of the "transaction parasites" once and for all. They make car salesmen look like choir-boys.

Nobody loves a realtor more than themselves! This is going to be great fun from now on. To listen to the backpeddling, crying, whinning poor little realtor yammer on about how the turnaround in real estate has hurt them and their so-called reputations!

You're wrong about that, because crediblity is what is needed. Yes, you might get away the first and second time around, but not the third time. You continue doing what you think is best for you and you will go hungry. You will run dry.

anon 4:26:29 said:"I say, give some time and observe living in a "multi-culture" neighborhood; you might just find out that they're a lot nicer, educated and friendlier than you."

Do you live in a multiculti 'hood?

I lived in two, one in D.C., the other in Montgomery County, MD.

D.C. observations: our house burglarized 3 times by "nicer...friendlier" next-door neighbors climbing thru transom before it was boarded-up. One room mate robbed at knife point in broad daylight, another robbed and beaten to a pulp, left for dead on sidewalk one night. A woman 2 doors down was raped, and another 1 street over.

But the blood sucking losers are boycotting my houses due to only being a 2% commission. I received an email today stating that 2% was BS and insulting. I replied that a) FU b) you have a point, I'll be forced to raise the commission and c) I'll be glad when the day the realtors are history, what a scam.

The only way the realtor scam perpetuates is that it's free to buyers and sellers are forced into the system or boycotted.

I'm sorry but you've lived in a ghetto. You're confused between the two. Anyway, where you lived, that says a lot about your stature in life - no offense. And yes - it's hard for you to appreciate multi-culturalism in a different way, but I respect that.

Now, let's move on to housing rout debate. By the way, I'm sorry for what you've gone through. If you're making $85k/yr. like myself (modesty aside), you wouldn't be a victim of those low life people.

Redfin: Great technology, great PR team, terrible business model. They are no different from ZipRealty and will have a very tough time getting profitable. That said, in the discount business, scale rules (walmart) and if they can get big then they are interesting, but I suspect that ZipRealty are in a far better position than redfin to dominate here.

As the majority of the agents' variable cost is in advertising, the route to increased efficiency and lower costs within the Industry are through cheap and focused online ad platforms.

My guess is that Trulia.com and Google Base/Adwords with cost effective or free traffic generation will have a greater positive impact on the commissions, consumers and overall agent/broker profitability than redfin or any other discount model will ever have.

Agents are not going to disappear, but their 6% will. Part of the reason that agents dont make much money is that the barriers of entry are too low. See this http://www.slate.com/id/2124506 .

I am not an agent, and would notdream of selling my house by myself, I would not know where to start and the FSBO services out there are too painful to use. With an increasingly educated consumer and a decline in the housing marketing there will be a flushing out of the traditional realtor. The role of an agent changes from one of information provision to service delivery and use of technology becomes increasingly important, hence barriers to entry for a realtor to enter the industry will rise and quality of service will increase. A decline in the housing market will be the best thing that happens to the real estate industry and redfin will be roadkill along the way.

They've already been pointed to nationally as having one of the worst track records when it comes to de-listing and re-listing properties under a new MLS#, thereby wiping out DOM's and previous price reductions.

If you are shopping for a home in Seattle, do not use the "first" realtor you get in with. Use your judgement, intuition and common sense and keep looking til you find an honest one.

They are out there but you have to dig deep. I went through 8 in 3 weeks before I found one I could trust. And that was in '95 before things went nuts!

Think of how much worse it's gotten since then with these huge sums of money at stake.

Well that's the first piece of advice. The second piece is, of course, wait post crash to look at homes!

I guess you appreciate rapes, robbery and murders? I also had the misfortune of living in a multicultural hood when I first immigrated here (legally). Drug dealing, robbery, murders, and assaults were commonplace. Even the police were afraid to enter the hood unless there were a dozen of them.

So yes, I'll take the lilly white surburbia over the hood anytime. Nobody forced those people to act lower than animals. Then they wonder why businesses won't move into the area.

There will always be agents. If the disintermediation arguments are true, then why are there still car salesmen? If the industry is going to move to an online transactional world, then surely you'd expect to see auto sales move there too. Not happening. And car salesmen have terrible scruples.

Also, did you know - in the Seattle market anyway - a full 20% of the home on the market cannot be viewed on any website? There's an checkbox for a property to be viewable on the public web. One out of five homes aren't shown there.

I also agree that there will always be agents, but not for the paper-thin arguments that others have posted.

Car sales? Really, why not furniture sales, shoe sales or wireless phone sales. There are no parallels to home sales with the current agent structure as it is. Do you bring your own car salesman with you when you buy a car, let him negotiate the sale and split the commission with the "selling agent"?

I also don't believe our need to look, feel, touch what we buy has anything to do with agents or their necessity. A house is a fixed structure with doors that open and let people in whether there is a real estate agent or homeowner inside.

There will always be agents because it's easier to be one-step removed from the process of negotiation than having to be the "bad guy" and most people are not technically savvy enough to wade through the internets to find themselves a home. This gets even more compounded for people who are negotiating relocations or other state-to-state moves.

I personally think that 6% is a RIDICULOUS number, but that's just me - apparently 95%+ of people who sell their home think it's a steal at twice the price!

The only thing this bursting bubble is going to do is create more government oversight and local control - making it even more difficult for Ma and Pa Middle America to navigate the waters of buying or selling a home. Makes you sick, doesn't it? The very people that have caused the majority of the problems (REIC) will pretty much walk away unscathed and only further entrench their necessity into the buying process. I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a push to raise the extortion rate to 7% or 8% to "cover" the additional regulatory fees and red tape.

Having said all of that, I do believe there is a secondary market that will grow allowing tech-savvy homeowners/homebuyers to eliminate the middle man and share in the savings, but it will most likely be for the fortunate few that stayed awake through Algebra and have some sense of the world around them.

Anyone who watched "Million Dollar Listings" on Bravo I think, would probably never hire a real estate again. I couldn't believe how inept and unprofessional these so- called agents were considering these are multi million dollars properties in LA and Malibu. Of course the buyers and sellers were pretty much a greedy bunch of swine themselves. My favorite bit was when the blonde listing agent, who looked like a poster child for NIp Tuck — with fake everything — boobs, teeth, lips, nose job, cheek implants, is grossed out by a prospective buyer, a 50-year-old in a micro miniskirt who has had even more work done, including this ridiculously big pair of knockers.

Trash agents all you want. I agree most deserve it. However, there are some good, honest ones out there. I happen to be one.

Just last night I spent from 7 to 11:45 p.m. cleaning and making repairs on my own dime to a townhouse I just listed for a single minority mom of 3 who is struggling to get her kids into a much better school system and community. She calls me daily with her worries and problems. Part of last night was spent just listening to her pain and comforting her. I wear many hats: REALTOR, handywoman, counselor, financial advisor, and the list goes on.

However, its very hard to find sellers willing to believe I will tell them the truth about their home's market value and condition (whether or not they want to hear it since so many sellers want to believe the lies of those other agents instead of the truth) and that I will do more than any other agent to provide the best service humanly possible to them.

I have made less than $10 an hour on a transaction. Sometimes, I lose money on a listing. That's okay - I sleep well at night.

I recently was competing with another agent who was a giving pie-in-the-sky price to a seller with all kinds of ridiculous promises I knew she'd never keep. I put everything in writing with a guarantee of an unconditional and immediate withdrawal of the listing if I did not perform even just one item and had my broker sign it. I then gave it to the seller and told them to get the same from the other agent. I'm sure you know what happened. Of course, the other agent wouldn't put anything in writing and I got a very angry phone call from her saying that I was trying to "control" the market with my "unfair advantage" of giving a guarantee of performance. Amazing isn't it?

Good luck to all of you, hopefully you will meet an agent like me - we do exist.

I think there will be an increase in the real estate agent's commission - like 7-8% only because of the overhead cost. The longer and more time they spend during open houses with no potential buyer cost money, because TIME is MONEY.

Either that or charge an hourly rate of $60/hr. for Sat. and $90/hr. on Sun. up to maximum of 6 mos. and reduce their commission to 4%.

"I think there will be an increase in the real estate agent's commission" You are F-ing delusional and in denial. Realt-whores are the new travel agents. BUH-BYE! See ya wouldnt wanna Be ya!http://www.hungryagents.com/get_zip.html

There is a downward pressure, which will continue as competition amongst agents for the remaining business increases. They will compete on price. Buyers will finally start to understand that using an agent actually costs them money. So the real estate community which felt the pressure from sellers will also begin to feel pressure from the buyers. The final commissions will probably end up at about 3%. Commissions are negotiable, you just have to know how to approach it... here is a real estate commission negotiation tool and script that can save thousands in about 3 minutes

Here it is... FREE advertising, FREE download. No cost to you! Get your FREE download NOW! Make money and get FREE advertising! This is a great program for you to take advantage of... Check this out now for FREE!

As always, you have compiled a very interesting blog here. I think you would enjoy my real estate property listings blog. You should check it out if you are interested in all things related to real estate property listings

you people have no freakin idea what you are talking about. All those listings on the internet...Realtors make that possible. The FSBO stuff...MOST of that is also "Broker Activity" Who do you think administrates those sites?In Texas homes sell on average 11.7% more when listed with a realtor. Why? If you list FSBO you immediately become the prey of educated "Bargain Hunters" that make a living (often a good one) of taking advantage of you. 6% is way too much its ridiculouse? Do you have any idea what the agents doing the work actually net of that? Lets look at a "Popular" C21 split...6% 1/2 to buyer and 1/2 to seller. So on a 100K house thats 3K to buyers agent. Then C21 corp. takes 12.5% and the typical office takes 50% (usually until some sort of break out point that fewer that 20% or realtors ever reach / year). The Buyers agent will GROSS $1312.50 after Gas, Car, Phone, Insurance, Licensing, Advertising, Office expenses, do you have any idea how little money that is???Oh yeah and "Just fill out the form for the title company" Good luck buddy...I guess thats all their is to the actual transaction. I hope I get a chance to buy a house you've got listed FSBO...I would rob you blind you idiot.I actually know lenders that charge borrowers not using a realtor extra money to complete their transaction. Why? Because Most peope have no idea how to complete a LEGAL Real Estate Tranaction, much less to do it without the lender doing alot of extra work. To compare to car dealers. Most Realtors subscribe to a MLS system. this enables every realtor to see every property on the market listed with another. Do car dealers do this? If they were ever organized enough to orchestrate this do you realize how much the gap between trade in value and reatail value would shrink. They dont do it because their market is their lot and their wholesales...Thats it...Without a MLS they control their market. Informed buyers control thr Real Estate Market. I've been a Reltor for 5 years now and have been called many many many times off signs or ads in the paper and I have documented records that show that fewer than 1% of the people I've represented have bought the house they called in on. Where does that put you as a seller with an ad, or as a buyer calling an owner on 1 property?

After a very successful 28 yr career in Telecom sales I found myself a casualty of corporate downsizing. With a BS in EE and an MBA in hand I decided to sit out the telecom Nuclear winter by entering the Real Estate Market as a Sales Agent. With advanced sales and marketing skills I felt I would have an advantage over the majority of the existing agents in my area. After getting my RE license and paying about $2,000 in ridiculous RE fees, MLS, local org, national, org Errors & omissions insurance, etc, etc, I joined a large nation wide firm.

I was surprised to find that 85% of the 108 agents in my office had about 5% of the computer skills that I had. I couldn’t believe that in 2006 these folks couldn’t even figure out how to check their e-mails never mind trying to read or download an attachment. Even my 12 yr old has more advanced computer skills that the agents in my office. Basically I found the RE industry to be about 50years behind corporate America.

In my 1st year I shot up to the #2 realtor in my office out of the rag tag group of 108 Agents. Sound to good to be true, but…what the #2 spot equated to after I deducted all the silly RE fees, office charges, MLS fees, processing fee’s, paying my own health insurance, etc, etc I was left with $41,507. Not bad for working 7-days a week 15 hrs a day. Oh, and did I mention how during those 12-months I was cheated out of $67,462 in commissions by 11 different agents, lied to by 20 or 30 more and actually spit on by two surly customers.

I have to say that the one thing I have personal found to be 100% true is that this is the most un-ethical business I have ever been involved with. The Real Estate code of Ethics is beyond a joke, it’s completely unenforceable I was hard pressed even as an insider to find agents who cared about ethics at all. The majority of agents are beyond unethical, unethical is actually a compliment to most as their action are actually criminally prosecutable offences as they lie, cheat and steal from their customers and especially from other agents. Most agents actually laugh and brag about just how unethical they are as they exchange their “I did something worse than you” stories with each other. It’s an every day occurrence to hear stories about agents stealing from customers at open houses or drinking their liquor and even using their pools on weekends when their customers are out of town.

Forget all the arguments about 5% or 6% commissions, this is an industry cesspool of rejects and degenerates who are allowed to steal and cheat people out of their hard earned cash. And who are RE agents kidding about their “Secret” knowledge on filling out forms and contracts, any idiot with a 12th grade education can fill out the same forms as good as or better than most agents. The legal binding contracts that many of these blithering idiot agents bungle their way through ends up costing their buyers & sellers thousands in wasted $$$. It’s time for a radical change; consumers deserve more for their money than a bus full of clowns masquerading as professionals.

After a very successful 28 yr career in Telecom sales I found myself a casualty of corporate downsizing. With a BS in EE and an MBA in hand I decided to sit out the telecom Nuclear winter by entering the Real Estate Market as a Sales Agent. With advanced sales and marketing skills I felt I would have an advantage over the majority of the existing agents in my area. After getting my RE license and paying about $2,000 in ridiculous RE fees, MLS, local org, national, org Errors & omissions insurance, etc, etc, I joined a large nation wide firm.

I was surprised to find that 85% of the 108 agents in my office had about 5% of the computer skills that I had. I couldn’t believe that in 2006 these folks couldn’t even figure out how to check their e-mails never mind trying to read or download an attachment. Even my 12 yr old has more advanced computer skills that the agents in my office. Basically I found the RE industry to be about 50years behind corporate America.

In my 1st year I shot up to the #2 realtor in my office out of the rag tag group of 108 Agents. Sound to good to be true, but…what the #2 spot equated to after I deducted all the silly RE fees, office charges, MLS fees, processing fee’s, paying my own health insurance, etc, etc I was left with $41,000. Not bad for working 7-days a week 15 hrs a day. Oh, and did I mention how during those 12-months I was cheated out of $67,000 in commissions by 11 different agents, lied to by 20 or 30 more and actually spit on by two surly customers.

I have to say that the one thing I have personal found to be 100% true is that this is the most un-ethical business I have ever been involved with. The Real Estate code of Ethics is beyond a joke, it’s completely unenforceable and I was hard pressed even as an insider to find agents who cared about ethics at all. The majority of agents are beyond unethical, unethical is actually a compliment to most as their action are actually criminally prosecutable offences as they lie, cheat and steal from their customers and especially from other agents. Most agents actually laugh and brag about just how unethical they are as they exchange their “I did something worse than you” stories with each other. It’s an every day occurrence to hear stories about agents stealing from customers at open houses or drinking their liquor and even using their pools on weekends when their customers are out of town.

Forget the arguments about 5% or 6% commissions, this is an industry cesspool of rejects and degenerates who are allowed to steal and cheat people out of their hard earned cash. And who are RE agents kidding about their “Secret” knowledge on filling out forms and contracts, any idiot with a 12th grade education can fill out the same forms as good as or better than most agents. The legal binding contracts that many of these blithering idiot agents bungle their way through ends up costing their buyers & sellers thousands in wasted $$$. It’s time for a change; consumers deserve more for their money than a bus full of clowns masquerading as professionals.

What a great opportunity. Most people would think it's crazy going For Sale By Owner in a buyer's market.However, this can really be the time when the FSBO can score big over the real estate agents.If you follow the step by step instructions in the new manual FSBO: You CAN Do It you'll be laughing all the way to the bank!I got an advance copy of it to edit and it's the best thing I've ever read on selling by owner.

It even comes with software to help you get your house ready to sell and for tracking everything once you have landed the sale.Before I edited this manual, I was going to list my house next year, but not any more as I can save thousands if I do it myself. Check it out at the website www.fsboyoucandoit.com and they'll even let you read the first chapter for free.

I LOVE the comment about how you can go online and make a bid by filling out a form. ABSURDITY!!! Total ignorance. A realtor provides a service which is conducted over a 4-6 wk period. You act like a realtor is a "door opener". My job STARTS when we go to contract. Finding the house? That is the easy part. It is making the deal close that is the hard part. I charge 6% because I am very good. I have to give 3% to the cooperating agent, and 3% goes to me. A realtor has experience, about things you dont know about, because they conduct transactions like yours everyday. They know what to look out for, and a good realtor will play Devils Advocate for you with the mortgage broker. The mortgage guys all hate me, and I dont give a damn. I nickle and dime every charge on that closing statement. I know which fees are negotiable, and which are fixed. I advocate for my client and know all the little pitfalls that can ruin a persons purchase. I get the backflow from all the FSBOs with botched deals that never closed.

To say that realtors are the scum of the earth and lower on the totem pole than a crack whore is PATHETIC. How dare you characterize and stereotype like that???? ANd to say they should be ashamed to show their face at a career day at their childrens school because they are no better than hookers????

My kids are not ashamed to have a realtor for a mom. I drive up in my 140K car, and put on my 800.00 shoes and walk into PTA day with my head held high. I have nice things because I work almost 13 hours a day, and I bust my ass to do right by people. It has paid off. No guilt here and no regrets. NO ONE CONFUSES ME WITH A CRACK WHORE. I conduct my business with integrity. I dont hurt anybody, and I have established a reputation over the last 10 years as a person who can be trusted, and who is an ace. YOU WILL BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND ANYONE WHO SAYS I swindled them or did not perform.

My fee is 6% and it is non negotiable. 3% of that is mine, and 3% of it goes to the cobroke. It is worth every penny, and I am not the one that says it, my clients do. Quite often, I list the house for the same price the seller had it listed by owner. I add my commission to that price and earn my commission on my own without taking anything extra from my sellers.

So for the people out there that say Realtors are criminals and not necessary .....Take care of your transaction on your own. Best of luck to you. There are hundreds of thousands of people who use realtors everyday because THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO. Realtors are not going anywhere so get used to it! Business is still booming in South Florida. If you want to handle your transaction on your own, then dont use a Realtor.

Make your own open house, place your ads in the newspaper, respond to inquiries on your e mail and phone, make flyers, take them to the PUBLIX, come home from work 4 or 5 times a day to open the door for people who never show up and when they do, they are 45 minutes late, spend 3500 putting mulch in the front lawn, so that the house will be "ready to sell", buy a contract at Office Depot, fill in the blanks, negotiate your repairs with the home inspector that is really the buyers brother in law, (or cancel the deal b/c you dont think its fair you have to repair the toilet because it is "loose at the base"), find comparable sales and write a letter of mitigating circumstances when the appraisal comes in 45K too low, because one divorced couple on the block gave their house away, then when this doesnt work, call up a few other appraisals and shop it until you get your asking price on the appraisal. Pay 400 for each additional appraisal, (because they are not going to look it up for free for you) call the mortgage broker after appraisal to see if the buyer has deposited the 1200 that his mom was going to lend him for closing, wait 48 hours, call to make sure the loan went into underwriting, check to see what conditions the loan has come out of underwriting with, call the HOA to see if the buyer put in their application, return URGENT call to HOA 4 days prior to closing and help the buyer get a photo of their pet, call your cousin who is a vet, and convince him to write a letter saying the dog weighs 2 pounds less than he really does because if not the buyers will be rejected and the deal is off, clear the cloud on your title because youR out of control hibiscus bush grew onto your neighbors fence, call your mortgage company when the payoff comes back off by 9K so you can explain to them that there IS NO PREPAY on your loan....Negotiate all the junk fees off the HUD, and then go on your merry way!

FSBO: You CAN Do It!Why do you want to sell?The first thing you explicitly want to get clear in your mind is the answer to the above question, NOT why do I want to sell FSBO. If you don�t know why you want to sell, then you are wasting your time.Saying things like �Oh, I just want to get a bigger house�, or �I just want to move (out of the City, Town, State etc.) sets the stage for disaster from day one.Successful sellers KNOW what they want to do, and where they are moving to, before they even think of selling.Your mindset should be along the lines of: �I want to move to Edinburgh, Scotland next July and buy a 300 year old house with three bedrooms, central heating, two baths, single story and some etc. etc.�This also applies even if you are moving to a retirement home or community. Pre-select the place you are going to, and visit it. Make sure in your mind this is what you want and commit to it.This is how specific you need to get. Write it down so your goal is always in front of you!Selling a house is all about planning and I am going to quote this once, and only once, but remember it as we go through the process, or fall into the abyss!�FAIL TO PLAN, AND YOU PLAN TO FAIL!�Now that you have decided that you definitely want to sell, you must get one thing straight. This also pertains if you list your house with a Realtor�, so listen up!You will notice that throughout this article I use the word �house� to describe your residence. I NEVER refer to it as your �home�.I only use �home� when I am talking about buying, NEVER selling.Once you have committed to sell, NEVER, NEVER, EVER again refer to the residence you are selling as your home.THIS IS CRUCIAL!You are selling an object.You are selling a house. You are selling a piece of real estate. You are selling a plot of dirt with a structure on it.You are NOT selling your home!!!Your home is where you are moving to when this transaction is closed.You must emotionally detach yourself immediately you decide to sell. If you don�t, quite simply you will fail.If you remain attached to this pile of bricks or wood as your home, you will not be able to proceed as you must. It can be a hard thing to do. You may have brought up your family there. You have put blood, sweat and tears into the place over the years. It may have some wonderful memories. It may be the locality where your roots lie.However, you must disconnect. Make sure your family also abides by this rule, so quit saying things like �Let�s go home�. You are going back to the house. Period! End of story!Actually this will come up again in pricing your house and negotiating, so get used to it.Once you have this set in your mind, you will need to ask yourself the next obvious question: Why do you want to sell FSBO?This article is an excerpt from the new �how to� manual �FSBO: You CAN Do It�. For more on this topic, the system is available for instant download at www.fsboyoucandoit.com. It comes complete with FSBOagenda� software to help you get your house ready for sale and showing, as well as tracking the process once you are under contract. It even comes with a flyer template.

I have known many realtors and most don't deserve the title human being, however that does not mitigate those few rare individuals who really do fulfill the obligations one should expect.

I have seen some who put the client's interests above their own finacial gain. These people have encouraged clients not to buy properties they could only maginally afford even though the bank approved their loan.

In addition good realtors are able to pick up on subtle lies of the other agent the buyer may miss. I once saw one view a home video of a realtor showing a potential buyer a lovely property, but spot a carefully worded lie about water rights the buyer had missed.

The number of agents like this in the country are few, you could probably count them on your hands and have fingers left over.

So no offense to those few real and true realtors, but bad company brings bad luck and becasue realtors have failer to police themselves, the public has leaned to loath all of you and it is a shame for there are a few rare outstanding individuals.